aske pardon for his offences or be beholding unto him for his mercy but doth still repine and grind the teeth against God as though hee did him great wrong Now how like unto him are men in these points which loving the faults they do commit hate the lawes which they breake and cannot abide any order or state under God which hindereth their wicked designments counting themselves better and more noble than others because they despise lawfull authority disgracing them that be good and having no goodnesse do boast of strength that the sway of the world is on their side which scorn to acknowledge their faults and thinke so well of themselves as though they needed not to have any favour which are as resolute in their evill purposes as though they had made a covenant with death and league with hell saying they had rather goe to hell with good fellowes than live with such peevish professors as know not how to laugh and be merry Our blessed Saviour the eternall Word which was in the fulnesse of time made flesh which dwelled amongst us and wee saw his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of God full of grace and truth as hee paid the price of our redemption by his death so hee left his life going before as an example to reforme us to the image of God decayed in us by sinne and amongst all his excellent vertues wee are specially to imitate these two which are opposite to the devils malice and pride his charity and humility his charity so great towards his heavenly Father and us men that because his Father would have it so and our misery might by this meanes be done away hee became obedient thus farre not onely to live amongst us a meane man and to endure our necessities but also to suffer a most painfull and shamefull death for us and to beare all our sorrowes and so much he loveth obedience that he accounteth all them his brethren which live in it and for them hath prepared his grace and glory yea hee rejoyceth in a little flocke which heareth his voyce and breaketh the nations in pieces with a rod of iron like a potters vessell which breake his bonds and cast his cords from them his humility so great that though there was never sinne or the least spot of uncleannesse which did cleave to him yet he became our surety taking on himselfe our sins and in our person doth acknowledge himselfe a grievous sinner and doth aske pardon and receive mercy for us to the forgivenesse of all our sinnes teaching us evermore to confesse our sinnes unto God and to seeke for grace and favour by him who is both willing and able to grant whatsoever wee need and if wee aske in faith no good thing will hee deny unto us and let the devill rage with his malice and pride let him set all his devises and instruments on worke to confound us if God be on our side we care not who be against us Meditation 43. Mortification OUr life must be a continuall meditation of death so the Philosopher but the Christians life is no other than a continuall death and that by the example of his Lord whose whole life was nothing else but a preparation to death and all they which are heires of promise with Christ have the title on this condition that their lives be made conformable unto his death that whosoever looketh on them may see the image of Christ dying in them neither may they looke to come otherwise unto his life than by dying first which is not either the first or second death spoken of by Saint John in his Revelation when a man liveth in this world without grace in sinne or else suffereth elsewhere eternall punishment for sinne but in a daily dying as the Christian ought we shall avoid both these and be made partakers of the first resurrection here and of the second in the life to come The continuall death of a Christian is that which in the Scripture is called mortification which maketh us conformable in all our life to the death of Christ for as Christ died to deliver us from the guilt of sin to bring us to God so the Christian dyeth in himselfe as the child of Adam that sinne may have no power over him but that hee may be led by grace to doe all things to the glory of God and this death is first inwardly and is called a crucifying the old man the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof the law of the members which rebell against the spirit the unregenerate part this must wee kill and sacrifice and in this respect a Christian must daily die for though he doe every day what hee can to destroy sinne hee shall find new monsters spring up out of those heades which hee hath cut off which will procure him more labour Paul saith indeed they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the lusts and affections thereof yet meaneth hee not that the flesh is utterly dead in any but that they keepe it so under awe and master it that it dyeth in them daily likewise hee saith they that live in the flesh cannot please God for in this part the Christian must be still dying that the spirit may live in him though a man die yet a constant man will be loath to deny himselfe Ttherefore this kind of mortification seemeth worse than death wee must deny our owne will our owne affections our owne reason we must be no greater adversaries to any than we are to our selves wee must rebuke our selves wee must barre our selves of many faire occasions of much liberty we must punish our selves this crucifying consisteth in a search and knowledge of our sinnes wee must not smother our sinnes or sooth up our selves but call a spade a spade we must be also sorry for our sinnes as sorry as ever we have beene for sicknesse shame or losse that ever lighted on us so sorry that nothing else be so sorrowfull unto us lastly we must hate sinne and cast it out as it were a serpent crept into our bosome and spet on it as wee would spet on a foule toade The second kind of mortification is outward is a submitting of our selves to dangers griefes and losses as poverty paine disgrace wrong for Christs sake and needs much patience for wee must have death still before our eyes and all deadly things this hath beene the portion of the Church at all times Wee are killed all the day long and are counted but sheepe for the slaughter saith the Psalmist and Saint Paul tels the Corinthians that he dies daily I dye daily he his owne words againe in the Acts to the brethren What doe yee weeping and breaking my heart for I am ready not onely to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus And in another place the same Apostle I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in
betweene Faith and profession but if his Workes bee good and godly thou maist boldly presume that the Sunne of righteousnesse is risen on him and hath with his beames of Religion enlightned him wherefore James saith Pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this to visit the fatherlesse and widowes in their adversities and to keep himselfe unspotted of the world marke how he judgeth of Religion not by Faith but obedience and yet there is no Religion pure but by Faith because Faith is also to be tried by obedience in the sight of men as obedience by Faith before God And Christ useth the same direction Hereby shall all men know you are my Disciples if yee love one another and love as yee know containeth all duties of the Law and hence is Christs answer in the Gospell to such as shall say at the day of judgment Have not wee taught and preached and done great Workes in thy name Depart from me I know you not all yee workers of iniquity Christ looked not on their profession but practice There is a knowledge of the truth and that wee have from Faith beleeving in the Death Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and there is an experience of the truth when the vertue of these things beleeved doth worke in our lives as when by the power of Christs Death wee die unto sinne and by the power of his Resurrection wee arise unto newnesse of life and by the power of his Ascension are heavenly minded When wee are come to knowledge wee passe on to trust and confidence by applying to our selves the promises of the Gospell so when wee are come to this trust wee must passe on to experience and triall in our lives by imitating those things in our selves which Christ hath done for us this is that which Saint Paul saith wee all behold as in a mirrour the glory of the Lord with open face and are changed into the same Image from glory to glory as by the spirit of God God sheweth his face open to us in the Gospell wee behold it by Faith wee are changed into the same by speciall trust and confidence that the things there promised belong unto us as remission of sinnes the righteousnesse of Christ freedome from death and the gift of eternall life and wee passe from glory to glory by the experience spoken of when the vertue of the things wee beleeve doth worke in our lives and make us holy as he is holy and wee have both righteousnesse inherent and imputed and for this cause Paul speaking of the same matter to the Philippians doth not count himselfe perfect or to have as yet attained the full end of his calling for though he had begun in the first degree to beleeve and gone forward to the second for application yet had he much to doe in the last as long as it should please God to lend him life But you will say what doth the vertue of Christs Passion Resurrection and Ascension belong to us As the sap of the stock belongs to the graft so wee being grafted into Christ by a lively Faith that vertue of his whereby hee overcame death rose againe and ascended must needs grow up in us to bring forth like fruits and to signify this union he in other places is called the head and the faithfull members of the same body a vine and the faithfull branches of the vine and how this union is made betweene Christ and the faithfull the Sacrament of Christs blessed body and bloud doth not only represent but that it is done also as often as the faithfull doe rightly receive the same it doth testify and therefore there is not bare bread or a signe only but the body and bloud of Christ really yet not grosly as the Papists imagine but after a heavenly manner to the Soule to Faith neither is it necessary for this union and the benefit thereof that it should be locall so as Christs body must enter into ours but when Faith doth embrace Christ crucified for us that the Spirit whose power is not tied to distance of places make the faithfull man partaker of those gifts and graces of his redemption which can be no otherwise derived unto him but from the humane nature of Christ which suffered and as hee is a member of Christ Meditation 11. Of Merit THere is a great question betweene the Papists and us what workes please God best either such as are done to Merit or of duty they say workes done of duty have lesse zeale but belike they separate duty from love wee say workes done to Merit savor more of pride and cannot please God of themselves because they want duty and if wee should joine with them in an issue about zeale it might bee proved that their zeale for the glory of God is not so great which worke to Merit as the others Saint Paul as appeareth in his Epistle to the Philippians wrought not to Merit but of duty and love he which worketh to Merit must remember what is past and examine all his workes from the beginning to the end whether they be worhty that reward which he meanes to challenge but Saint Paul working of duty forgot what was past as though he had done nothing and his mind was only on that which he might be able to do farther as long as God would give him life according to that of our Saviour When yee have done all that you can say you are unprofitable servants as if he should say thinke so meanly of what you have done that you count it your duty to doe much more as long as you live even as much as you can and yet shall you be unprofitable servants both in respect of the grace used and not turned to the best advantage and in respect of the glory to bee received for which you can give no worthy recompence saving that it is the fathers will for my sake to give it to you what he hath promised he will in justice performe Belike Christ when he spake so much of duty meant to take zeale from workes nothing at all but to adde the more love and willingnesse which is the cause of zeale to the base and slavish mind a benefit past is of no force whereas the free and gentle heart is disposed towards a good turne received but because both they and wee agree thus farre that good workes are necessary let us rather busy our selves about doing well then disputing wittily God grant that I may remember I am a Christian if this bind me not to doe good nothing will if I doe unfeignedly what I can God will bee mercifull where I faile and Christ will rather want merits then I shall want reward Meditation 12. Pastorall cure THey which know what belongs to a flock are not ignorant of the care of a Shepheard or the necessities of Sheep neither is it an unworthy consideration for out of Shepheards have been taken Kings and Kings in time
anguish for Christs sake Saint Paul is a notable example unto us of this kind and if thus wee dye dayly as Christians wee shall never be afraid to dye as men wee shall be ever ready for death and so farre from shrinking backe that wee shall boldly meet it it shall be no losse but gaine unto us no end of life but the beginning of a better while wee fly death we runne into sinne headlong yet is there no death so bad Oh that wee could once truely learne to dye that we might live for ever Many are dead which thinke themselves alive Many to avoid a temporall death do lose those things without which life is nothing worth the parting of the soule from the body is no death but the parting of God from the soule if the body without breath be but a carcasse what is a Christian without grace but a painted tombe Our first birth is the death of that life which the infant drawes from his mother and the body is borne into the world for sense and growth by our second birth which is the death of the body the soule is borne into the kingdome of heaven to live a new life from the body for there it understands without phantasie or common sense it seeth without eyes heareth without eares maketh it selfe understood without speech And as the birth of the body into the world is a better life than that which the Infant had in his mothers wombe so must the birth of the soule into heaven be a better life than that of the body by how much the faculties of the soule are more excellent than the bodily senses In our mothers wombe we lived as plants in the world wee lived as men in heaven wee shall live as the Angels neither are soule and body parted so as they shall never meet againe for the body no doubt doth naturally long for the soule and the soule beareth a love to the body Therefore by a holy ordinance of the Lord they abide one anothers absence for a while that they may come together againe as man and wife with the greater comfort the body is gone downe into the grave to leave there his shame of mortality of weakenesse of corruption necessity without all which after the resurrection it shall returne to the soule and the soule trimmed and tricked up in glory like a fresh spouse shall receive the body into the same glory and both shall be received into God and dwell with him for ever Death then is called so onely as it doth appoare unto us and others which live here but in very deed and by the benefit of Christ the state of the dead is the very true life everlasting neither is the birth of the child a greater hope of life in the world than is this of the soule in the death of the body of the life both of body and soule to be glorisied in the kingdome of heaven Many think on death to be more vicious as Epicures Let us eate and drinke for to morrow wee shall dye some will not thinke at all on death and they live neither the longer nor the better but are sure to die much the worse When wee thinke on death which are Christians it should make us live very justly and soberly because wee looke for a Kingdome after death where none enter but the righteous Oh my soule and body if wee must needs part how soone wee know not let us do it willingly to overcome necessity resistance is vaine obedience is profitable let us provide for that which else will prevent us let us make use of death as some do of money which else lyes dead let us die in the Lord to the Lord this is the best advantage Meditation 44. Last Judgement VVEe cannot avoide either judgment or death when sicknesse summous us to the one doth not our conscience to the other and in this life God hath his tryalls judgements executions so that men of times are forced to cry out Justus es Domine just a sunt judicia tua but because the wicked observe them not and God doth desire to appeare unto men rather as a mercifull father than a severe Judge therefore the Majesty the Authority the severity of his judgment is hid unto us so farre that wee are bound to beleeve that he will come to judge a thing which else we would never dream of Though then we see no examples of this judgement as yet neither can conceive the form therof yet do wee beleeve it and that there is a certaine time appointed for it they that looke not for it with joy shall abide it with sorrow that is that last and finall judgement wherein all causes shall be opened all persons censured all workes rewarded what hath hitherto beene suspended shall now be sentenced and never more altered Marke the preparation unto it the heavens shall passe away with noyse the elements shall melt with fervent heat the sea shall be dried up and the earth shall be burnt with all her workes then a summoning trumpet shall sound and awake up all those that sleepe in the silence of death and they together with the living shall be caught up then shall the Judge appeare visibly above in flaming fire compassed about with infinite thousands of Angels ready to do his will A strange judgement towards no doubt whether we respect the Judge or the parties which are to make their appearance or the sentence it selfe the wisdome of the Judge is such that hee cannot be deceived hee knoweth all causes without information things past are to him present and things to come hee made mans heart and findeth out every corner and turning thereof hee heares our words before wee speake them and knowes our thoughts before wee act them we do not will without his power though without his allowance nor worke without his privity though without his consent nay he knowes our purposes before wee are fully resolved and our thoughts before wee conceive them and our workes without producing any witnesse his justice is such that he cannot pervert judgment for favour or bribes his will is the rule of all righteousnesse and therefore hee can favour no cause but that which is right and if hee could be unrighteous what bribe might winne him which wanteth nothing his power is such that all must abide his decree here lyes no appeale no prohibition can be granted againstit no pardon obtained his jealousie shall take on harnesse and hee shall arme the creature to be avenged of his enemies hee shall put on righteousnesse for a breast-plate and take unfained judgement instead of an helmet equity shall be his shield and his fierce wrath as a sharpe sword and his troop are the whole compasse of the world Now what are the parties which are to appeare and abide tryall Adam and his posterity from the first man to the last that shall be borne here shall they be judged which have beene heretofore Judges
battered and shaken that consent who is Captaine of the place falls to a parley and yeeldes on any conditions to my losse How far better had it beene for mee to have avoided the fury of Saul by wandering in the wildernesse barring my selfe of those betwitching vanities Meditation 24. Presumption and Despaire PResumption and despaire the two extremities of faith faith grounds it selfe on the promise of God presumption assumes unto it selfe Gods mercy without promise desperation takes no comfort by the promise Presumption intrudes it selfe into the promise desperation excludes it selfe out of the promise faith holdes the promise fast as his proper right Presumption is more bold with God then wise desperation puts a man more in feare then is safe faith without boldnesse or feare is confident Presumption hurts the conscience most and layes it open to sinne desperation wrongs God most as though he would not or could not be mercifull to a sinner faith doth keep the conscience from sinne to come and makes the way for Gods mercy for the pardon of sinnes past Presumption hath an eye only on the mercy of God desperation on his justice and faith doth behold in God both justice and mercy Presumption is fed by prosperity impunity Gods long sufferance desperation strengthened by some speciall crosse and adversity at what time sinnes appeare greater and more in number then before Faith standeth on the death of Christ and there doth see both the greatnesse and grievousnesse of sinne and findeth a way to escape the danger Presumption doth despise the justice of God the feare whereof might make him fit for mercy desperation cannot apply unto it selfe the mercy of God in time of need the helpe whereof might cause him to avoid justice Presumption doth cause a man to think well of himselfe of his own wisedome righteousnesse and to preferre himselfe before others desperation doth cause a man to think ill of God and no otherwise then of a tyrant Presumption is a Pharisee despaire a Devill faith the penitent Publican finally Presumption is a steep cliffe without footing desperation a deep pit without bottome and faith Iacobs ladder by which God comes downe to man and man goes up to God Oh my soule thou best knowest thy owne wandring there lies danger on both sides the common waies are the worst and that the safest which fewest find let thy guid be the word of God walk by faith purpose not to offend though pardon were granted thee before hand Hast thou offended seeke for mercy not considering so much how great thy sinnes are but how great is his mercy to them that truly repent A good conscience may presume of mercy when it hath no feeling expecting Gods leasure with patience and this is to hope above hope and despaire of her owne sufficiency when it doth most good so learning to depend ever on God alone Meditation 25. Society with God MAn by nature is sociable and of all Societies none better for him if it may be had then that with God for if wee enter into a common right with them of whose Society wee are how much shall wee by this Society bee blessed above all others which possesse God who is the fulnesse of all good things and are so possessed of him that nothing shall bee able to part us from him Now behold how thou maist attaine to this neere and inward society with God he which dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him for God is love a holy flame burning with the love of goodnesse the Father loveth the Sonne eternally and the Sonne the Father and the Holy Ghost is one and the same incomprehensible love of the Father and the Sonne three persons but one love for God is love and this inferior love of the creature is but a beame a streame of that love which if it bee so necessary betweene the creatures themselves that the course of things may not bee maintained without it how much more betweene the Creator and the creature for both the being and well-being of the creature doth depend on the love of the Creator and these creatures are the lesse happy how excellent so ever otherwise as the Sunne Moone and other glorious bodies which being loved of God cannot love him againe Oh man what cause hast thou to love God which was not content only to make thee a creature whom he would love but endued thee also with a nature to love him againe that so thou mightest enjoy him the more and certainly as the being of God is love so there can bee no greater perfection in men then to love God God doth give most glorious signes of his presence in Heaven but out of doubt the Heaven of his delights and where he is alwaies present is the soule of a true lover Love is a quiet thing yet not idle active as heat and nourishing goodnesse like a naturall heat it is much in giving much in forgiving in giving to God his honour to man convenient helpe and succour in forgiving wrongs and injuries Loves kindred is not of flesh and bloud a Christian unto it is more deare then a brother and a brother the more deare if a good Christian Love soares over all the pleasures the riches the honours of the world and stoopes downe to none of these because with the Eagle it findes nothing worth the looking on but Christ Jesus the sonne of righteousnesse The priviledge of love is this where there is love it is accepted not according to the worke but for the worker according to that one hath and not according to that he hath not many oversights are borne with where there is love and where there is no love the greatest diligence is rejected Oh my soule faile in any other thing rather then in love though a small measure of knowledge must content thee yet love God out of measure above thy selfe for himselfe doe good unfaignedly if not strongly and let thy heart be ready when it hath made thy hand empty Meditation 26. Of Peace I Would that all they which are of one opinion were of one affection How well doth it become them that professe one truth to maintaine peace as one man because the author of their truth hath commended peace unto them as the fruit of goodnesse which springeth up in them that love the truth Now because they which are one in opinion are many times differing in affection truth it selfe which is but one seemes to be rent in parts and is ill spoken of by adversaries which agree with true professors neither in opinion nor affection and shall I wish likewise that they which are of one affection as man and wife parents and children brother and sister master and servant were of one opinion How necessary is it that they which agree in the lesser matters of life should in the greater much more and that they which have vowed to be true to one another should be both true to Christ but now because
carelesly and idlely bestow themselves on all occasions of sinne whence it is that the good man though he be many waies hardly tempted to sinne by the Devill and wicked men doth alwaies resist and becomes the better but the bad man having many faire occasions offered to amend doth prove the worse and lightly assaulted doth yeeld to vice to wish our selves such as wee ought to be to desire vertue and goodnesse to purpose well to adde to our purpose care and industry is not only a beginning but a going forward and procureth constancy in goodnesse If thou wilt not so much as wish to thy selfe the thing that good is if thou make not speciall choice therof above Gold and thine own appetite how canst thou labour for it and if thou wish the contrary how canst thou not chuse but hate it and in this cause who is in fault but thy selfe doe not ill and say I cannot doe better but rather I will not change thy purpose adde thy indeavours heartily beg and desire for it and hee which commands will give thee grace to turne and obey Meditation 35. Selfe deceit TWo motives there are why men sinne the more boldly because it will be longer as they thinke before they be called to account and when the account must be made amongst so many what hard matter is it for thee or one to escape scot free Thus use they to dally with their owne dangers which have made sinne their inheritance and seek shifts to avoid sounder causes wherin they are the lesse to bee pitied because they grosly deceive themselves Be it that it is long before we be called to account yet the length takes it not away but makes it the more heavy when it comes wee abusing the meane time unto sinne which God hath granted for our repentance so that wee should rather feare to sin because wee shall be called to account then be bold because of the delay for look how much scope the one giveth to our sinnes no lesse revenge doth the other take when they are growne to ripenesse and it is indeed as dangerous for the wilfull sinner that it is long before there be an account as that there is one Now what if that time which men count long bee very short to omit that no sinne is committed but the conscience doth call us forthwith to a reckoning though the act passe yet the guilt is eternally recorded in that booke as also that the life of man is but short after which every one hath his particular judgment and put it over as farre as may be to that generall Inqâ—…est and the latter end of the world what can be long which hath an end and is alwaies running to that end when the end is once come what is all that worth which past before whether they be 1000. or 2000. yeares and what is that continuance worth which is so full of ends that every part thereof passeth away whiles thou hast it minute after minute and houres after minutes daies after houres monthes after daies and yeares after moneths and after some few yeares which as they begin in a minute so end they in a minute perchance not a yeare not a moneth not a day not an houre in a moment comes death when most unlooked for Hast thou spent 7 yeares in sinne if thou be not a man past all shame thou art by this time much the sorier Why then should the hope of living so much longer make bold againe to sinne will not thy sorrow be doubled when thou commest to fourteen and what use returnes to thee of all these fourteen yeares are they not quite lost by following sinne and thou hast now more to doe if ever thou thinke to bee saved then when thou didst first hegin to say then I will sinne because the time of account is farre of as if one would say because I have much wealth I will spend all as though prodigality could find no bottome He that hath a long time by spending it in sinne doth barre himselfe from all time for if thou continue at all times in thy sinne what time can there be betweene sinne and the time of account and if not at first yet at last by a continuall course of sinne let the time of sinning be never so long sinne and judgment will come together and then thou wilt change thy voice and say Oh this long time is past and the account is at hand now that there will be much to doe at this time and where there are so many it is not likely but that some may escape without their triall though God doe teach us familiarly as men by such ordinary matters amongst us as wee may best understand his meaning as when he setteth downe unto us in his word the forme of a judgment yet must wee not tie him to these necessary circumstances whereunto mans judgment is subject for he executeth his judgment as God and not according unto mans weaknesse he is not bound to time or place or examination of witnesses all things are present before him which shall be our Judge as every mans conscience doth condemne him so shall he feele and know the sentence of the Judge neither shall one prevent or interrupt the other If thou canst not run from thy owne conseience how canst thou escape his judgment who is greater then thy conscience A sheep may stray from the flock amongst strangers but he beares a marke which tries him from the rest and discovers him to the owner in like manner the conscience hath its mark which wheresoever thou runne or thinkest to hide thy selfe will dog thee back to judgment and there lay open thy most secret crimes sins and enormities But these the former surmises of thine proceed not so much from ignorance as infidelity and impiety and doe sound in their true meaning this farre The day of account will never come therefore wee may well say it will bee long in comming it is impossible there should be such a generall judgment therefore some must needs escape This is that bitter root which springeth up now and then amongst carnall professors first to sinne and then to deny God against whose majesty wee sinne for if there be a God which were the greatest blaspemy to think otherwise there must needs be a judgment and his judgment cannot be just which were most wicked to imagine if he be partiall to any or not able to punish all and marke to this purpose the order of Gods workes first that is the creation then there followed the fall of man after a generall corruption of man and last of all the deluge and desolation of sinners the old world is a figure of succeeding ages the law was published by Moses betweene God and the people the covenants broken on the peoples part the punishment of the disobedient to the utter rooting our of that people and their Temple which was the visible signe of Gods presence amongst them the